MALIKAH 961
Lynn Fattouh, aka Malikah (Queen in arabic) aka LIX, (Website ) was born in Marseille, France in 1986. Raised in Beirut under the shadow of war, Malikah first hit the Lebanese hip hop scene at the tender age of 16, showing early signs of success, working with EMI Arabia in 2003 after winning a hip hop competition and appearing on the Lebanese television show - Zaven. Since then, Malikah has established herself as the true "Queen of Arab Hip-Hop" stunning audiences throughout the Arab world (Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Tunisia, Kuwait, Oman, Dubai) with her hard-hitting Arabic-language rhyme-style, and becoming the first Arab female MC to reach NRJ radio network's top 20 billboard chart in the Middle East. She has worked with the most of the notable hip-hop talent in Lebanon and musical talent regionally including Beirut Biloma, Cheb Mami, Hasna,' Aks'ser, DJ Lethal Skillz, Rayess Bek, RGB' and many others. In 2006, Malikah hooked up with the producer, The MIGHTY THOR, based out of the Bronx, NYC, officially joining the The House of Representatives[T.H.O.R.] crew The Mighty Thor, Boulevard, J-Ma, and Bravo that same year. In 2007, Malikah along with Lebanese MC, Zoog, was chosen by MTV Arabia as one of the two best emcees in Lebanon for the their flagship program, "Hip Hop Na/Our Hip Hop" - as R'olling Stone Middle East' put it, "Think American Idol meets Making the Band." Additionally, Malikah went into studio for a track with the Dogg Pound’s Doggy Dog, Nate Dogg producer Fareed "Fredwreck" Nassar for a track released on MTV Arabia's Hip Hop Na album called "Ya Imra’a" - an anthem to Arab women in which she extolled: "“Women! Scream freedom in the name of every woman who cried and argued in the name of humanity/We want to be educated, we want to progress/Shine, excel and dictate our own lives!” Malikah spent 2008 cultivating her fan-base in Europe with another Switzerland-based Lebanese MC - La Gale - receiving rave reviews and strong audience responses at the Avatarium Festival (St. Etienne, France), the Moloko Festival (Geneva, Switzerland) and Le Bikini (Toulouse, France). She was featured on Beirut Biloma's hit single "I Wanna Dance in Beirut", and her single, "Buggin" enjoyed solid rotation on NRJ Radio throughout the Arab world. Also in 2008, Malikah became the first female emcee to host, judge (B-boy and freestyle battles) and perform at the Red Bull Lord of the Street contests in Beirut and Muscat, Oman. Subsequently Red Bull has called on Malikah as a staple performer in several Red Bull events including their 2010 Break King regional final in the U.A.E, Dubai and the 2010 Red Bull Urban Days event in Tunisia. As a nod to her overall skills as an MC, in 2010 she also judged two other Rap contests: the Beit El Hip Hop (House of Hip-Hop) Finale on the satellite TV channel Wanasah/MBC in Cairo, Egypt, and the Chevrolet-Urban Challenge in Abu Dhabi, UAE. In 2009,Rotana Musika TV asked Malikah to host their flagship music show "Shababi" and during 45 episodes, she exposed the underground music scene of the region with artists from Lebanon, Syria, UAE, Jordan and Egypt featured. Her media presence has also continued to grow, particularly over the last 2-years with feature appearances in the Canadian full-length documentary Arab Rap (2011), and the full-length doc Next Music Station (2011) produced by Al Jazeera and directed by Spanish musician Fermin Muguruza, who directed the critically acclaimed Checkpoint Rock: Songs from Palestine. As well, Malikah appeared in the US-documentary by Korean-Brazilian director Iara Lee called Cultures of Resistance (2010), and the TV-series Making Tracks (2011) a New Zealand production about music cultures around the world that spun off into a collaborative music track with LADI6, New Zealand's number one-selling female artist. Malikah continues to perform with the top Arab hip hop talent in the world with names like Omar Offendum (USA/Syria), The Narcicyst(Canada/Iraq), Eslam Jawaad(UK/Lebanon/Syria), and DJ Lethal Skillz (Lebanon), as well as international hip-hop royalty, performing in 2010 (Beirut) with Statik Selektah and Eric Coleman (Mochilla). Also in 2010, she participated in the "Lo Frequency" with the Jazz at Lincoln Center ambassadors of hip-hop The Lo Frequency family from NYC. During this one month workshop with The Lo Frequency, Malikah alongside Lebanon's top MCs - Edd Abbas, Chyno (Fareeq al Atrash), Omar Zeineddine and Ramcess produced a group track and video that will be released in 2011. What is clear is that 2011 is set to be Malikah's breakout year having been selected as the representative of the Lebanese hip hop scene to participate in “Translating Hip Hop” - a project organized by the Goethe-Institut and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin. The project sees her traveling to Colombia, Lebanon, Kenya, Philippines, and Germany - working with MC's from all of these countries on what will be a showcase performance in Berlin in November and a subsequent album release this year. Moreover, Malikah opened for Snoop Dogg on May 6th at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. Her recording credits have only managed to gain the attention of more producers and MC's including Kenya's (Nairobi) first lady of hip-hop Nazizi on a track called Nimechoka (2011), and Mario Reyes on an EMI Arabia release Yo Quiero Mas (2010). Meanwhile, Malikah is busy preparing to release her own full-length debut album in 2011 - The Coronation. She told the Rolling Stone Middle East, Fredwreck has contributed and he’s currently producing the album," adding, “I’m really excited because the album has some incredible collaborations and really strong messages. I view it as my greatest artistic accomplishment. The Coronation is my coronation.” Co-production credits go to DJ Muggs(Cypress Hill), Mighty THOR, and Lebanon's Zoog, with guest appearances by King Magnetic (Army of the Pharaohs), Omar Offendum, The Narcicyst, La Gale, and many more TBA. Check Malikah out online or watch her on just about every Arabic music TV channel both regionally and on a satellite station near you.